SUMATRA: Bukit Lawang and Gunung Leuser (Indonesia) - Orang-utan Trek

How to get to Bukit Lawing/Gunung Leuser national park?

Most of the guides tell you, you need to take a bus at the bus terminal Pinang Baris. But when we arrived no bus was going and some people tried to scam us. So we went back to main road, just next the to Pinang Baris (Jalan T.B. Simatupang - walk up to Mawar Bakery).

Some small mini busses are driving around here, so we talked to one guy and he took us to Bukit Lawang (Gunung Leuser national park) for 25.000 Indonesian Rupiah. The bus ride takes around 2,5 hours and they will drop you at a bus terminal close to the actual town of Bukit Lawang.

Good advice: Book your accomodation in advance! Some of the guesthouses will send someone who picks you up. You still need to take a becak though, But the ride takes around 10 minutes only and costs 5.000 Indonesian Rupiah.

Where to stay in Bukit Lawang?

There are many guesthouses in Bukit Lawang (in the middle of the Gunung Leuser national park) where you could stay. The town is great, small and very relaxed. You could easily stay here for a week or longer. We stayed in a guesthouse called Garden Inn. Before booking your accommodation, check out where it is. Some of them are a little bit up in the hills, you have a great view, but you also need to hike up a little bit. In low season we paid 150.000-175.000 Indonesian Rupiah per night for a double room. There is no ATM in Bukit Lawang, so bring some money. We got around 3.000.000 Indonesian Rupiah (205 €; $220; £145) for the both of us inlcuding:

-accommodation for 4 nights
-food and some beers
-the bus going back to Medan
-two day Orangutan tour
How to do a orang-utan Trek in Bukit Lawang?

There are several ways to do a Orang-utan trek: 1 day tour, 2 day tour or 3 day tour. We did a 2 day tour and we can really recommend this. We wouldn't do a shorter one, as you won't see that much. Doing this tour you will see thomas leaf monkeys, gibbons and orang-utans (we saw four grown-ups and three babies). A two day tour costs 60 € ($65; £42,50) and includes food and the camp. But keep in mind, it will be a lot hiking (uphill and very very hot), so it is exhausting. Anyways, it was one the best experiences we made during our travel, so do it! Bring some mosquito protection for the way and water. There were nomosquitos at the camp. For an extra 10 € you can raft out of the jungle, back to Bukit Lawang. It's worth it and you don't really want to hike back.

How to leave Bukit Lawang?

There are two ways to leave Bukit Lawang, you can book a bus in your guesthouse, maybe going to Lake Toba. Our you take a becak back to the bus terminal, where you can get a public bus to Binjai (25.000 Indonesian Ruphia). Here you can take an ALS bus back to Medan.

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